A day after fire tore through an Arlington Heights-area apartment building, fire investigators and Red Cross officials were on the scene Wednesday assessing the damage and helping as many as 20 displaced residents.
Flames clawed through roofs and through the interior of several apartments in the six-unit building of the Country Glen Apartments in the 2300 block of West Nichols Road, leaving behind sagging roofs and balconies. Water used to fight the fire turned surrounding vegetation into ice sculptures.
Investigators were on the scene Wednesday morning of an apartment fire in the 2300 block of West Nichols Road near Arlington Heights. No serious injuries were reported, but up to 20 residents were displaced.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
Four building occupants were taken to local hospitals with smoke exposure, while two were assessed at the scene but not transported, officials said. The Red Cross assisted 15 to 20 residents with shelter arrangements, a representative said.
Palatine Township Supervisor Andy-John Kalkounos said the township placed residents at an Arlington Heights hotel.
Among them was Tatiana Moore, who said the fire started in her second-floor apartment while she was cooking chicken. She turned on the stove and stepped away for 30 seconds before hearing a pop and then her son’s friend alerting her to the fire.
After evacuating her family and pets, she said she grabbed a fire extinguisher at the back of her building but could not get it to work. She also called police and notified her neighbors.
“I just wanted everybody to get out and be safe,” Moore said. “That was my main concern, getting everybody out of the building.”
Hank Welch, a Red Cross disaster response manager, said the organization is working with the families on what comes next. Some may be able to return within a day, but others may never be back, he said.
The upper floors of an apartment building in the 2300 block of West Nichols Road near Arlington Heights were left gutted after a fire Tuesday night.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
The Palatine-based nonprofit Partners for Our Communities posted on social media Wednesday that it is not yet accepting clothing donations, but will take financial assistance to help those left homeless pay rent elsewhere.
The blaze broke out shortly before 6:49 p.m. Tuesday, officials from the Long Grove Fire Protection District said. The initial response included four fire engines, two ladder trucks, one heavy rescue squad, two medic units and three command officers.
The first arriving units reported flames coming from the second and third floors of the building. Firefighters searched for trapped occupants, extended hose lines and placed ladders against balconies, according to the fire district.
The fire was upgraded at 7:19 p.m., bringing three additional engines, an additional ladder truck, two medic units and additional command officers, officials said.
The blaze was brought under control 40 minutes after firefighters arrived, the fire district reported.
Flames tore through a six-unit apartment building in the 2300 block of West Nichols Road near Arlington Heights late Tuesday, leaving as many as 20 residents homeless.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
More than 20 agencies responded, including firefighters from Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, Lake Zurich, Prospect Heights, Des Plaines, Barrington, Libertyville, Mundelein, Rolling Meadows, Barrington Countryside, Mount Prospect, Gurnee, Grayslake and Wauconda.
Cook County sheriff’s police, the Cook County Building Department and Buffalo Grove’s emergency management also assisted.
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